Reincarnation of an Archer
by Shadlith
Summary: Her mind burned when she saw it. Memories and a distortion that had never been cured came forth. She was no longer a Sword, not really, but his existence as one still burned Unlimited Blade Works into her very soul.
1. Prologue

My Soul is a Weapon

The first time the pieces of ********* ***** ***** activated, she was working on the Crescent Rose. It was, she later decided, rather appropriate. Her head burned with static, with a hill of swords that danced through her mind.

By the time the burning faded, there was a blade before her, a weapon and a gun, a sniper rifle and a scythe, the weapon she strove for but could not yet create. She reached for it, trying to hold onto the image, trying to keep it with her, but she could not retain it, and it faded from existence. But as long as it had existed, it had helped, and her fingers had danced across the scattered parts, creating the weapon that she had seen.

Only an hour later, she ran into Yang practicing on a pair of training dummies. Her fists struck out, Ember Celica spat fire, and Ruby _understood_. Every interconnecting gear flooded through her mind, every blow struck with it danced through her muscles, every bullet spat flowed through her soul. She wondered if she could remake them. Fake them. Her fingers twitched with the urge to recreate, to replicate, to trace a copy of the weapon she saw. The need burned within her, the desire to make it happen...

The shards of **l*****d *l*d* ***k* in Ruby's heart observed the concept of the gauntlet's creation, but could not pass judgement, for it did not know enough. The static in her heart and mind caused a firewall, keeping her from that field that held the knowledge she needed. Ruby let out a scream as she collapsed under the burning pain of her mind tearing itself apart, searching for the knowledge that it kept from itself.

It repeated again a few hours later when she awoke and saw her uncle Qrow's scythe. The knowledge burned through her mind, downloading itself straight into the U*li*i*ed *l*de *o*k* and that not-quite copy that resided in her soul. This time, when the forge in her heart awakened, she was more ready. The scythe was judged, and it's concept was accepted. It's structure was hypothesized, and not disproved. The material was duplicated, and the composition was perfect. The skill that made it was imitated, and the replication was learned. The experience of its growth was sympathized with but not understood as the processor failed to find the data, as the static interfered with it. It left her with a migraine and a fever, and Ruby once again lost consciousness.

When she woke up again, the two of them were waiting, worried. This time, although she saw the weapons once more, her soul did not leap to reconstruct them, or even to download them. It already had the data stored, and the growth they had experienced took only a moment to update.

After calling in a doctor, they decided that a bit of bed rest would be enough. So the day passed swiftly, the next morning came, and the two younger children made their way to Signal academy. It was her first period class when she saw the teacher's staff, and the Unlimited Blade Works in her head, that infinite field of infinite swords, drank it in, and fed a copy to her own archive. It was not a sword, but that was okay, because she was not that boy who had cast himself into a fire, only to be reforged within a sheath. She would never project her twisted reality upon the world, because her distortion was false, an inherited madness, tempered by her own sanity.

But even so, it was enough. The false hill of swords within her held the data that she required and more. This one had not just swords, but also guns and gauntlets, a scythe and this ruler. Swords still burned most brightly, leftover influence from EMIYA, most easily rising to surface, but these other weapons had joined them in truth, and could be called forth more easily than they once could. Even if swords were the most brilliant lights, these others were no longer flickering torches, but infernos.

And when she judged the concept of its creation, the staff with the hidden miniature cannon was found worthy. When she hypothesized the basic structure, she found no reason to disprove it. When she duplicated the composition material, there was no corruption. When she imitated the skill of its making, there were no shortcuts. When she sympathised with the experience of its growth, there came understanding. When she reproduced the accumulated years, each moment came neatly after the last. And when she excelled every manufacturing process, there were no mistakes. The forge in her heart roared to life, burning her flesh, her mind, and her soul, but creating a perfect copy of the weapon before her in her hand, bringing with it every skill of it's original user.

She did not faint that time, nor falter. She simply understood. She was a creator of weapons who wanted to be a hero, just as she had always been. The small things did not matter. They never had.

They called it her Semblance. Maybe it was. Who cared? Reality Marble, Semblance, whatever you called it, it was her very soul made manifest, it was the common sense of a distorted existence. Whether it was powered by Aura or Prana, her very essence burned, and her Element was absolute. She was a Weapon. No longer a sword, not without that Ever Distant Utopia to guide her forging. She had lost precision. She was not a sword but every Weapon she could possibly be. She spat bullets, she slashed, she cut, and she stabbed. She exploded, blasted, battered, and smashed. She had grown to encompass more things, and her reach had expanded. But with that expansion she lost focus.

Her knowledge of herself was no longer as absolute as it had once been. This was no longer the soul of the man who had forged himself in war and bloodshed, who had refined himself in the flames of the corrupted Grail, who had been shaped by the sheath of the King of the Knights. This was the soul of a young girl, who had been born in what passed for peace, who had not looked into the eyes of a savior and wondered to herself, "How can I smile like that?"

She could not impose her soul upon the world. She could not reject the reality of Gaia (though Gaia did not reject her, nor her magecraft here, but instead helped it along) and impose her own truth, because it was no longer _her_ soul to project, no longer _her_ element, no longer _her_ origin, no longer _her_ distortion, no longer _her_ common sense. She knew his soul well enough, but if she tried to reach for it, she would fail. It's very concept was beyond her grasp, for it was not her soul. She did not know her own soul enough, though she had already begun to learn. His knowledge, the knowledge of one who had sold himself to the collective will of humanity, was still a powerful tool, and his own soul had left traces within hers. His armory for one, had been added to her own, though beside the raging infernos that were weapons she had seen, his were flickering fireflies, dancing out of her grasp until they could drink in the original archive and return to their former glory.

She did not know if the archive that was _hers_ and not _his_ was even called Unlimited Blade Works. Had that been lost as well? What name had it taken in this rebirth? What form had it taken? She knew what it had once been, she felt it even, an afterimage of a world she had once lived. It had awoken her, because back then, it had defined him, defined Shirou Emiya in a way that nothing else could. It was in his Aria, after all, or one of them at least. His life had always been Unlimited Blade Works. He had prayed for Unlimited Blade Works. He _was nothing but_ Unlimited Blade Works.

But Ruby Rose was not. No matter how similar, no matter how close, in the end, her soul, her element, and her origin were different. No matter how it haunted her dreams now, burned in her mind, in her flesh, in her soul, it did not belong, not really. It was... a loan of sorts. From one weapon to another. A desire to see another take up the dream that he had long cast aside (for he had found reason to take it up once more when he fought himself in that shattered castle for one of the woman he could have loved and to find the faith that he had lost, for he was Shirou Emiya and EMIYA and a Sword and he would never lose to himself) for he could no longer bear it. A desire to see everyone saved.

That was the legacy she had inherited, and Unlimited Blade Works was simply the tool that she would need to fulfill it.

* * *

So... this is a thing that happened.

Basically: Ruby Rose is the reincarnation of Counter Guardian EMIYA post the Unlimited Blade Works route, because reasons. If I ever continue this, I'll come up with one. However, unlike in 90% of reincarnation fics, Ruby Rose isn't overriden by EMIYA. She just has bits of his soul hanging around and messing with hers. So she awakened Unlimited Blade Works, but since her element, origin, soul, and distortion aren't a perfect fit, it's just kinda... sitting there, feeding her own mental Armory.

She's never going to develop a true reality marble. It's simply impossible for her. What she can do, however, is replicate the lesser effect (Epic level projection due to mental blueprints) due to her own element and origin getting close enough, and having bits of Counter Guardian EMIYA's soul hanging around in her own. She can try to project stuff from his armory, but until he own one assimilates it, she projects at a 3 rank reduction (meaning nameless blades are impossible, and a normally C rank blade is reduced to the power of a nameless one). Once she assimilates it, the penalty burns away because her own archive has the record.

Also: The personality in this fic (if it gets continued) is mostly going to be Ruby. She'll have traces of EMIYA in her, but frankly, I'd totally buy it being the Canon explanation for her oddly appropriate competence in canon. For example: She has no common sense, but manages to be oddly good at tactics and fighting. I'm sensing the Eye of Mind (True) skill here. :P Anyway, yeah. If this does get continued, it'll be Ruby being Ruby, and then crossover elements happening more and more as she recovers more of EMIYA's magecraft and artifacts, gets noticed by a by-then user of the Kaleidoscope Rin who's like, "Wait a second, is that a girl version of Shirou? Must gather blackmail material!" And then forces a true crossover when Rin drags Shirou and Saber through the Kaleidoscope to chat with her. And then possible antics when Rin decides to add Ruby to her harem. Depending on what direction I (possibly) decide to take this, it's either going to gain the Humor tag or the Drama one. Pretend it gets both, my writing style is weird. Actually, no. Ignore the tags on this. Seriously. My writing just happens, and tags are a thing that doesn't stay accurate.


	2. Chapter 1: Onward, Unto Beacon

Chapter 1

" _Legends. Stories scattered through time. Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts, of a forgotten past._

 _Man, born from dust, was strong, wise, and resourceful, but he was born into an unforgiving world. An inevitable darkness — creatures of destruction — the creatures of Grimm - set their sights on man and all of his creations. These forces clashed, and it seemed the darkness was intent on returning man's brief existence to the void._

 _However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change, and in time, man's passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds. This power was appropriately named "Dust."_

 _Nature's wrath in hand, man lit their way through the darkness, and in the shadow's absence came strength, civilization, and most importantly, life._

 _But even the most brilliant lights eventually flicker and die. And when they are gone... darkness will return._

 _So you may prepare your guardians, build your monuments to a so-called "free world," but take heed... there will be no victory in strength."_

" _But you forget. Legends have a power of their own. Every story carries within it a shard of truth, a remnant of the past. Victory may not lie in strength, but perhaps it can be found in the simpler things you've long forgotten. Things that require a simpler, more honest soul."_

* * *

RUBY POV

I'm feeling a bit sad as I look over the various weapons magazines in the shop. Not because of the magazines of course, or even because I'm in the shop! It's an awesome shop, called From Dust till Dawn, which was a name I'm sure that Yang would love. But no, I'm sad because Yang had graduated from Signal this year and is going to be leaving me behind. I sigh, casting aside those thoughts in favor of grabbing a magazine at random and flipping through it. As I look it over, the archive in my soul reaches out, judges the creation of each of them, and finds them wanting. They're just images after all... unlike whatever's hovering a bit to the left and behind me. I'm sure it's nothing though, this is a Dust shop. Hunters come in here all the time. I ignore it in favor of humming along to the music blaring from my headphones. Red like Roses is an awesome song! Suddenly, I feel someone grab my shoulder. I pull off my headphones, turning toward the guy.

"Yes?" I ask politely, looking him over. He's taller than me, dressed in a black suit with matching hat and shoes. He also looks vaguely familiar though I can't quite place him. Maybe it was because of those evil looking red glasses? I wonder what he wants, anyway? Did he want me to pay for the magazines before reading them or something?

"I said, put your hands in the air, now!" He shouts. I blink, then take a sideways glance at his sword. The weapon is greedily swallowed by the shards of Unlimited Blade Works, then copied, analyzed, and stored in my own still-nameless Archive. I just call it the Archive when I'm talking to people, because explaining it is so hard. I grimace as I do, because even though it's _his_ and not _mine_ the _namelessbroadswordlowskillwieldermassproduceddecentquality_ is still easier to grasp in the dying sun of Unlimited Blade Works than in my own soul. "Kid, this is your last-" He begins. I looked up at him, cutting him off.

"Are you robbing me?" I confirm curiously. As I speak, I feel the forge in my soul smolder and then begin to burn. My Archive whirrs to life and begin to judge the concept of the new blade's creation. I reached into it and slowly pull the prana away from the flames, letting them die. I don't need a nameless blade like this one, not yet, no matter how much that nameless Archive wants to create and create until there's no more raw materials and the world is an endless field of blades.

"Yes!" He sounds frustrated. I look around. There are three more of them and a man in a white suit as well, all attacking the poor shopkeeper. This time, the burning is different. It's not the burning of the forge, but of purpose. His and mine both. To Save. Better take this outside, I decide. And hey, look, a convenient window! I dropkick the thug in front of me straight through it.

He groans as I get off him, pulling out Crescent Rose as I rise. A flick of the switch later, my baby unfolds into his scythe form. I love Crescent Rose. Not just because he's my weapon, like Yang thinks, but because he's the only weapon that's really _mine_. A weapon that I made myself, that was born from _my_ concept, and that Unlimited Blade Works couldn't take in. After all, it was a High Caliber Sniper-Scythe, something so far from a Sword that Unlimited Blade Works rejected it outright. It's a sign that I'm not not a copy of a faker, I'm not just someone else pretending to be me. I'm myself, Ruby Rose, not EMIYA, Counter Guardian. It's an extension of myself, and it's proof of myself.

You know, sometimes I wonder what would have happened if the remnants of _his_ soul had awoken before I'd made Crescent Rose. Before I'd truly differentiated myself from _him_ by making Crescent Rose. After all, _he_ had never actually created a weapon of his own. Had never used a gun. Had always preferred the twin swords I didn't dare to summon because every incarnation of him preferred them and I was afraid that I would as well, and I'd no longer by Ruby Rose. I'd be that boy. Just a copy of him. Is that what I might have been? A badly designed copy, with red hair going black instead of red hair going white? I shake aside the gloomy thoughts, turning back to the store with a smile. This isn't time to wonder about what ifs. It's time to fight and to Save. It's time to be the hero. And that's something that both _he_ and I agree on.

I spin my baby, smoothly aiming him at the leader as I turn off the headphones with my other hand. Red Like Roses is my personal theme song, not fight music! And besides, there's no point running out the batteries on my Scroll. The man inside the store say something, waving his men forward. _His_ Eye of Mind activates in response, and _his_ knowledge and experiences immediately began predicting what'll happen. The same experience that's born from fighting and killing and fighting and killing and doing nothing else. The same experience that lets him use that two sword style of his.

The first thug approaches with his _broadswordnamelesslowskill_ only to meet my foot smashing into his face as I twirl around Crescent Rose. The second take his butt to the chest and goes flying before I pull his trigger and launch myself toward the third. He returns fire with a _pistollowrateoffirelowskill_ and I dodge every shot, _His_ Eye of Mind telling me where I should expect the next shot from someone of his skill level. Each pull of Crescent Rose's trigger take me to an area with a low chance of having a bullet in it, and which would have another low probability area next to it the next second. Every shot marks a path that I follow like a burning blur.

Only a few moments later I'm close enough to take him out of the fight. A single blow take him into the air, and a second sends him crashing down in front of _RomanTorchwich WieldingMelodicCudgelACaneGyrocWithAHookShotDesignedPrimarilyForCloseRangeCombat_.

"Well you were worth every cent, truly you were." He grumbles from the front of Dust Till Dawn as drops his cigar. Rather than wait for him to shoot me, I launch myself forward at him. His eyes widen as he raises Melodic Cudgel and opens fire.

"Download." I whispered. "Compile." Behind my voice, I can hear _His_ , whispering a different set of words. Trace On. My soul burns and my aura twists as it converts itself into a massive nest of Magic Circuits that the magi in _his_ old world would have murdered to have. I pump Prana/Aura/Od/ _energy_ into my body, bringing it a step closer to perfection. My steps grow surer and faster. My nerves transmitted data more quickly. Time seems to slow. _His_ Eye of Mind charts the flight paths of the incoming missile and analyzes his body language to see which way he'll move. I check the turn, then stab Crescent Rose into the ground, using him as an anchor to redirect myself with minimal loss of velocity, then fire to make him tear through the earth and come up without problems.

The look on the man's face when I crash into him is totally worth the pain from losing my grasp on my aura and having it twist back to normal, the remaining prana burning like molten lead as it splashed away from her body.

But pain's common to a magus. A magus was one who walked with death, after all. It's easy to deal with when I add _his_ experience to mine, and it doesn't distract me when _his_ Eye of Mind warns me about the incoming blow. A pull of Crescent Rose's trigger later, I'm out of it's way.

"Persistent." Torchwick growls. I just give him a look.

"Surrender." I order him, "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to."

Torchwick ignores me, raising Melodic Cudgel. Rho Aias, _His_ voice whispers. I almost reach for it, but then I remember that its concept is too far from my own so I can't project it. My judgement had found it wanting. Instead I just blink, pouring more prana into my eyes, bringing them closer to perfection as my aura twists and turns and forms a false circuit. When my eyes open I can see see the incoming gyroc, and a moment later, Crescent Rose spits a bullet at it, blasting it out of the sky. I take advantage of his immense recoil to smoothly flip the scythe until the muzzle points backward and down, then pull the trigger again, launching me in the direction that Torchwick's probably fleeing. Unfortunately, that direction's up a ladder on the side of a building. I roll as I land and come up shooting, having switched Crescent Rose to gun form in midair.

Unfortunately, the bad guy had already made it to his getaway vehicle, a Bullhead class VTOL Tiltcraft. I glare at it as the man in white tips his hat at me. "You're good Red, but not good enough! It's the end of the line!" He tosses a glowing red Dust crystal, then immediately shoots at it. Rather than wait for it to impact with me, I launched myself backward, shooting as I do. The bullets meet the same shield the explosion does, and I quickly release the trigger. The thing between us is a brilliant violet shielding mystery of some sort, supported by a series of magic circles. I stare at the source of it, a blonde woman dressed in a purple cape, holding a _dustinfusedridingcropdesignedasamysticcodeweaponofGlendaGoodwitch_ , and do a double take. Glenda Goodwitch is famous! She's the assistant headmaster at Beacon! I need to get her autograph after this! But first, Torchwick.

As the blast fades, Glenda Goodwitch smoothly brings her hand forward, using some sort of violet missile type mystery. Unlimited Blade Works fails to even notice it, since it's more like a bullet than anything, but my own Archive scans it. My fingers twitched with the urge to try and recreate it, for whatever else it was, it was a weapon, but I know I can't. My understanding of its concept is still too weak. While I can understand enough to judge it, if only barely, I'd have no idea where to begin to hypothesize its basic structure. But the data still got saved, even if I can't understand it yet. Later, when I can, I'll try to project it again.

For now though, I have to help this woman who saved me. I try to analyze the Bullhead, but without the guns, it's not a weapon. I do active Structural Analysis instead of relying on my Archive. The armor is thick, too thick for Crescent Rose to be of any use. Okay. If I can't beat it, then I just have to imagine something that can. I look through my soul, checking the weapons in Unlimited Blade Works as well as those in my own Archive. None of the flickering lights have been added to my own armory yet, nothing above the thousands of nameless blades that _he_ 'd encountered, and the married blades that _he_ loved. But that was okay. Even if I couldn't reach for one of his blades, I had others I could use.

"Download." I whisper, "Compile." My circuits blaze as Torchwick retreats, roaring for help. "Print Bullets." Reality shifts. A staggered and messy row of ten different weapons appears, each of them a gun of some sort. None of them are truly unique, just nameless gyrocs carried bythe android guards, Broken for just a bit more strength than they should have as Projections. At the same time, a woman who glows red appears, covered in a _shirtmadeofdusttochanneldustbyCinderFalltolaunchfireballsandcreateweaponsofashandglass._ "Bullet hell!" The last part of the Aria is shouted. The nameless guns roar, blazing away at the same strength they had in life. Missiles fly out, colliding with the side of the ship, already battered by the storms that Professor Goodwitch has sent. Cinder Fall deflects the bullets easily, but they're all firing on different vectors at different parts of the ship, and Goodwitch's spear of stone is a much bigger threat, especially as the few shots that make it through end up doing little more than scratching the paint and rocking the ship.

The woman switches to the offensive, sending a massive fireball at us. I'm about to launch myself off the side of the building when Goodwitch catches me and tosses me backward, actualizing the shielding mystery again, though much smaller this time, enough only to protect herself. The circles are closer and more dense, apparently making it more likely to hold against the fireball that causes the already Broken projections to finally shatter into rose petals and then back into Prana. I grimace at the damage to my Aura and untwist it, letting the remainder of my aura refill the damaged sections. Once it has, I twist it again, forming another thirteen false circuits. They aren't much better than _his_ were back when he was human, and I have only half his 27. But they won't stay damaged permanently, no matter how badly I strain them, and if they break, I can just untwist my aura and create new ones. Of course, if they break too often, then my aura will have run out, and that'd be bad. Either way though, I've got enough power to make this second set. I'll only be able to make one more set of circuits before my aura's too damaged though.

This time, instead of Broken nameless guns, I make two copies of Crescent Rose. Even though he's not on the Servant Scale, he's an E rank on the human scale, like most weapons are here. I open fire at Cinder herself this time, all three of my babies in rifle mode. If I can't damage the ship, then I'll just focus on drawing Cinder's attention away from Goodwitch as she takes it down. Finally, the VTOL turns and runs, apparently deciding that fighting us is a bad idea. I let my aura untwist, the thirteen black splotches that indicate my Circuits smoothing out back into the surrounding red.

"So..." I say after a moment, before turning and shooting her my best puppy dog eyes. "Can I have you autograph?"

She glares at me. "You're under arrest."

"... That's not an autograph." I kick the roof dejectedly.

* * *

"I am awesome." I decide as I watch my fight with Torchwick on the screen. Then I yelp and pull my hand back as Goodwitch smacks at it with her riding crop.

"I hope that you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, young lady. You put yourself and others in great danger." Goodwitch says firmly as she walks around me. I shade my eyes against the bright light of the interrogation room, shifting uncomfortably.

"They started it!" I protest. "Well, Torchwick started it. I have no idea about that Cinder Fall woman."

She grimaces, but continues her speech. "If it were up to me, you'd be sent home with a pat on the back and a slap on the wrist." She demonstrates by trying to hit me again. I dodge again. "But... there is someone here who would like to meet you."

She moves out of the way, so I can see the man in green come through the doorway, holding a _mugturnedcaneturnedweaponofOzpinweaponofwardustinfused_ and a plate of cookies. I whimper as I glance between the two. Which am I supposed to focus on first?

"Ruby Rose..." He leans forward, putting them down, then catching my gaze with his own. "You... have silver eyes."

"Oh, that's just because I do a lot of projection." I say dismissively. "Or at least, I think it is."

"It's not natural?" He blinks at me in surprise. I shrug.

"I don't know." I admit, "I don't remember it being any other color, but if you overuse projection, your eyes turn gray, and your skin turns pale, and your hair goes white." I glance at his own white hair for a second. "But it might be! That stuff can happen even if you don't use projection of course!"

"Of course." He agrees. I give him a suspicious look. Is he hiding a smile? "Now, Ms Rose, how about telling me where you learned how to fight like this?"

I hesitate, not really sure of what to say. How am I supposed to explain that I projected Uncle Qrow's scythe and replicated his skill with it until it had engraved itself into my own body?

"It's part of my Semblance." I finally say, "Um, do you have the records on it? My Sister Yang's applying for Beacon this year, and I heard you guys tend to look at everything about the applicants so you might have seen me in it!"

"Why don't you tell me?" He suggests, not really reacting to my pointing out that he's the headmaster of Beacon and oh dust or root or Akasha or whatever, I'm sitting in front of the headmaster of Beacon! While in Jail! I think that's a bad thing. Oh, hey, cookies! I glance up at him, making sure he's fine with me eating them. When he nods, I reach for one, then cautiously eat it. When he doesn't seem to want any for himself, I quickly go for the rest. Being selfless is perfectly fine, but I need sugar!

"I think they called it Replication." I finally say. "When I look at a weapon, I can understand it. As if I'd originally made it myself, you know? And using that, I can use my aura to remake it. But it's not just that, that's just the first four steps really. I can also sympathize with the experience of its growth and reproduce the accumulated years. Which includes being wielded. So when I'm holding an item I downloaded and compiled-" _traced, his_ voice whispers, because when he used it, it was tracing, but like his Aria, tracing doesn't fit me anymore. "I can also replicate the skills of its wielders. So what I did is I replicated my Uncle Qrow's skill with his scythe until I learned enough of it even without having his scythe in my hand, and then I switched to practicing with Crescent Rose."

"I see." He muses. "So tell me, why does an adorable little girl like you need to know how to use a weapon so well?"

I narrow my eyes at him. "I'm going to be a hero." I tell him. It's not something that might happen. It's something that will. Even _he_ when ended up hating heroes, was still a hero before _he_ made the deal.

"A Hero?" He leans forward a bit. "Why don't you tell me what you mean by that?" It's not a question, it's an order.

"I'm going to save people." I reply, "I'm going to save everyone. And the best way to do that is by becoming a huntress and fight back the grimm. Well no, I guess I could fight criminals by being a police officer, but..." I trail off, hoping he won't push.

"But...?" He prompts. "Why not become a police officer? They're more well known as heroes than us Huntsmen and Huntresses."

"I'm not doing to become well known." I snap. "I want to be a hero to save people. Their being happy is enough to make me happy."

"But you haven't answered my question." He points out.

"Because you can't save everyone." I finally say, "When a man has a hostage, if you save the hostage, then the one who loses is the bad guy, because he gets thrown into jail. But if you have to kill someone, then you should kill the hostage taker, so he won't hurt anyone else. Save the most amount of people when you can. That's something a policeman has to accept all the time. If he saves someone, he did it by stopping someone else. For a huntress, it's a lot more straightforward. The Grimm aren't people. They're just monsters. Destroying them saves people, and makes them happy, but being a police officer can make the people you didn't save sad." That wasn't just something from _him._ It was something my mom and dad had always said as well.

"But even then, you can't save everyone." Ozpin points out. "Sometimes, you'll have to choose which group you have to save."

"Then I just have to get stronger." My reply is absolute. "I'm going to become a hero who saves everyone."

He gives me a steady look. "Do you know who I am?" He finally asks.

"Ozpin." I reply immediately, "Headmaster at beacon. Uses a cane-mug, usually in-" He cuts me off before I can continue, looking amused.

"Now, do leave me my secrets, would you?" He teases. "But yes, I'm Headmaster Ozpin. And I'd like to make you an offer."

I blink in surprise. "Huh?"

"How would you like to come to my school?"

* * *

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!" Yang cheerfully tackles me into a hug.

"Yang!" I gasp out, "Please stop! Can't breath!"

"But I'm so proud of you!" She declares, not letting me go, "You're the youngest person to get into Beacon!"

"Yang!" She finally lets me go so I can talk. "It was nothing, really! They just caught me in a fight, and then the Headmaster decided to let me join Beacon, and I still don't know why!"

"What do you mean?" Yang asks, "It was obviously because of your fighting skills! Didn't you see it? It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees."

"Yeah, that was awesome, wasn't it?" I perk up, "I was like, whacha, and he was like, hiyah, and- wait, I'm off track!" She sniggers at me, then frowns when I suddenly stop.

"What is it?" She asks, obviously concerned.

"It's just... I got moved ahead two years." I finally say, "And it's just because I'm really good at fighting. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything, or to have expectations of me." Expectations were what had gotten _him_ killed after all, and I was pretty happy being alive, thanks. Suicidalness might have defined _him_ , but there was a reason I wasn't distorted enough for my own Reality Marble, and that was definitely part of it.

"But you _are_ special." Yang said firmly, pulling me back into her hug.

"Thanks." I sigh, "It's just... I don't know. I didn't do it because I wanted people to think good things about me, I just did it to help that guy, and now all this happened."

Before she can reply, Professor Goodwitch's voice rings out.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon! My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." The image of her on the screen disappears, revealing the sky. A bunch of people start rushing over to side. I follow them out of curiousity, then gasp at the view. While it isn't anything special compared to the things _he's_ seen, his memories are less powerful than my own.

"Wow..." I whisper, completely losing track of whatever we were just talking about. "Look, you can see Signal! I guess we're not too far from home!"

"Beacon's home now." Yang says firmly, grabbing me in _another_ hug.

The touching moment is interrupted when someone makes for a trashcan. I go to help him, then realize that it's not really a problem that can be solved by shooting it, so I just hover there awkwardly.

"Well... I guess the view isn't for everyone." Yang says, rolling her eyes.

"Yang!" I whine at her, "Don't be mean!"

She chuckles at me. "Fine, fine." I squint at her suspiciously, but don't comment.

Eventually, however, we arrive at Beacon.

Yang and I walk out with a bunch of other students, then look over Beacon's grounds. They're awesome! We're at the edge of a cliff where the airship just parked us, and in front of us are the school grounds. They're a massive garden that looks completely beautiful. Much more importantly though, are the giant crowds of people. Or more specifically, their weapons. Each of them has something different, something unique, something named. Back in _his_ world, named weapons were actually somewhat rare. Here, weapons of this level of power are common.

"Wow..." I let out a gasp.

"The view from Vale's got nothing on this!" Yang says cheerfully. I give her a look.

"What? Who cares about that? Look at all these weapons!" I glance around, and both _his_ Unlimited Blade Works and my nameless Archive begin drinking in weapons at an incredible rate. Static begins to burn in my head as the Archive's processors begin to become overwhelmed, but I ignore it, keeping my eyes open to let Unlimited Blade Works at least catch whatever it can. Besides, anything I miss I can probably just recollect later. Even at it's most staticy, the Archive won't start corrupting data until the Growth and Accumulation point, and those will just need to fill in corrupted bits when I next see them.

"-by? RUBY!" Yang shakes my shoulder. I glance up at her, and her eyes widen in horror. "Ruby, your eyes are bleeding, I'm sorry, I completely forgot about this, we need to get you to a nurse right away!"

"Wha-?" I give her a surprised look. "What are you talk...ing..." I collapse, and the world goes dark.

* * *

AN: So... this is a thing that happened. Anyway, as you can see, this switched POVs to first person present tense. I've found this is the style I write best in for some reason. I've also lost most of the navel gazing that we saw in the prologue, though there's definite bits of it in Ruby's internal monologue. Mostly when something related to Archer shows up.

Anyway, information. Ruby's a lot stronger than Shirou ever was. She has her Aura, which she can shape into circuits using Emiya's fun "Turn Nerves into Circuits" spell, but changed to "Turn Pieces of the Soul into Circuits." This is simple magecraft in the RWBY verse because they've pretty much mastered the manipulation of the soul already. This has the benefit of giving her as many circuits as she can keep track of, and getting stronger for her is just a matter of making more, better circuits at a time.

Right now, her created circuits are crap, and can each channel enough power to project a nameless weapon for 20 minutes, or to reinforce herself for an hour. (Ratio would require the assistance of someone good with the nasuverse to explain it to me. Right now I'm assuming reinforcement costs 7 times less than projection for the same amount of time. Difference in given example is due to the body being bigger and requiring more prana than a weapon). Each "burnout" however, uses up a bit of aura. Since aura is also used to power her regular gun, her mundane speed boosts, and her passive defense, this means she's only rarely going to be able to go full power.

High Quality circuits are just harder to damage, and take longer to burn out. More circuits means that more of her Aura's being tied up in circuits, so when she has the maximum amount of space used up, burning them all out will reduce her aura from 100% to 0%. Of course, it'll be harder to do so, since the same amount of prana will be distributed among a bunch of circuits. As a side note, this means that using aura abilities and taking hits actively damages her ability to strike back by lowering the amount of space she has to spend on creating circuits.

Next, the different Arias. This is mainly due to them being different people. Shirou Emiya had a mental gun to activate his circuits, was a sword, traced his weapons, and contained an infinite field of blades. Ruby Rose twists her aura, is a weapon, downloads the code for and then compiles her weapons, and contains an as-of-yet unknown Archive.

Finally, her collapse. Ruby's Archive is less efficient than Unlimited Blade Works, both due to inexperience and it's wider scope and thus less room for specialized processing. This means that while EMIYA could glance at incoming fire from the Gate of Babylon and immediately copy everything, Ruby can only process a few weapons at a time, with too many causing interference in her Archive, and causing it to backlash her to try to get her _stop damn it._ She'll get over that problem over time, but right now it's a big issue. Her Archive also stores the items as data instead of recreating a perfect copy, and does the production step while she's pulling it out. It lets her modify items more effectively, but makes production a lot slower. (This is due to the fact that her personal Weapon Creation aspect has more to do with actually making them the hard way instead of just using Gradation Air as the default construction method. This is also what let her learn Qrow's fighting style on her own. She basically extracted the section of code that contained his fighting style, and saved to her main memory.) Of course, doing anything at all with her Archive takes a while due to her inexperience, but there you go.

Now, final note: A Beta or cowriter would be nice. Preferably one who has a good knowledge of the Nasuverse, so they can correct me on any stupid mistakes. RWBY's mistakes are easier to catch, since the setting is a lot simpler at the moment.


	3. Chapter 2: Introducing the Gang

Chapter 2

 _I'm walking through a burning field. Alone. Everything is dead. Everything but the fire, and as the sun rises, that dies as well. Even I am dead. Nothing more than an empty shell, taking one step after another. And each step through the remnants of these flames that burn with cruelty and curses and hatred, I cast aside something else. Anything else, just to let me take another step. I melt. Everything that makes me me melts away, back into raw materials._

 _Finally, I can't walk any more. I collapse. And then he appears before me. Emiya Kiritsugu. He looks down at me and gives me a smile. It is a pure smile as he saves me. As if he too is being saved. But... it feels wrong. Because this isn't me. The world shifts._

 _I'm in a cart. I don't know why, I'm too young to really understand. All I know is that Yang's dragging me with her. We're looking for someone, Yang's mother I think. I don't remember her, she left long before I was born. I don't think Yang remembers her either._

 _Mom had just died. We're making our way through the forest. We're both unarmed. Too young. Too young to be doing this, but we are anyway. Dad's not at his best right now, too sad about mom, so he didn't stop us, even though we're doing something so dumb. I don't think he knew._

 _I was sleeping in the cart before it happened, but something woke me up. Something warned me that it was dangerous. And so I'm awake when I peer out from the creaking little wagon. We're in front of a small wooden shack, old, run down, you know? And around us are these burning red eyes. My breath begins to come in gasps, and I begin to cry. My soul burns with something, something I don't understand, but I'm too young to remember him and too young to wield a weapon, so I can't do anything but cry._

 _Then a strange sound fills the air. The sound of a blade cutting through these shadowed beasts, of bullets firing and tearing them apart. My soul stirs, but the Archive isn't active, so it just hums unhappily. It's missed something, and it doesn't know what._

 _Then he appears. Uncle Qrow. He looks down at us, and he looks relieved. I look up at him, and it feels... right. I smile at him, the smile of someone who was Saved, and wants to Save others in turn._

"-by? Ruby, are you okay?" Yang's voice sounds worried. My eyes blink open, and I give her a confused look.

"Yang?" I mutter, "What- oh, darn it!" I shoot up as my memories come rushing back. "I fainted again, didn't I?"

"You have to be more careful!" She lectures me as she pulls me into a hug. "We're not at Signal anymore. Your Archive hasn't recorded all these weapons!"

"I know, I know." I sigh, looking around. We're still out front. "How long was I out?"

"Just a couple minutes." She says, "We need to head to the auditorium, by the way. Next time, _close your eyes_ , okay sis?"

"Okay." I scuff the ground with my right foot, hanging my head a bit. She reaches over and ruffles my hair.

"Now c'mon, we need to get to orientation." She says cheerfully. "And then we're getting you to a nurse, immediately."

"What?" I look up at her. "I'm fine, really! I don't need a nurse!"

"And see how I'm willing to wait until after our orientation?" She asks, her voice still cheerful, as if she's not talking about dragging me to someone who's going to poke me with needles. Those are weapons you know! I'd know, my archive can scan them, and it wouldn't be able to if they weren't! Admittedly, that one was oversized and was also a gun, but still.

She drags me along for a bit before we're interrupted by some kid that I don't know. "Hey." He says. He's pretty tall, almost a foot taller than I am, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a kinda dorky walking gait that doesn't look trained at all. I mean seriously, _his_ eye of mind is paying less attention to this guy than it did those thugs a couple days ago. And if this were a game, they'd be, like, level 1 mooks or something. The boy starts saying something, but I'm distracted by the blade at his waist.

It's a pretty old sword and sheath combo that Unlimited Blade Works immediately drinks in and then feeds to my Archive. _CroceaMorsMeleeDefensiveNoGunsNoDustPurityDefensiveMobile_. Weirdly, Unlimited Blade Works feeds on the sheath as well, which is apparently a shield too. My Archive just ignores it though, because it's not a weapon. Even more weirdly, they both just update a previously held bit of data instead of adding something new. I focus more closely on the guy, Jaune Arc. I wonder where I've seen him before? It wasn't back at Signal, I'd have found out if someone else my age was coming, if only so I could hang out with them a bit and hide from the crowds of older people I don't know. Which means I must have seen him in the crowd just now.

I quickly check the data in my Archive. Huh. No clues from the weapon, apparently it's an heirloom that he hasn't used yet. I fight the urge to toss a gun or some sort of dust channeling ability into my mental copy of it and keep on looking. Inherited. Heroic blade, used in quite a few wars. More skill imprinted onto it than any other blade I know... I switch to taking a look at it through Unlimited Blade Works. Unlike the weapons first seen by EMIYA, Crocea Mors burns as brightly as it should, since I saw it myself. And... there!

"You're the one who threw up on the ship!" I announce triumphantly. Yang immediately starts cracking up as the boy sputters helplessly.

"I get airsick!" He finally manages to get out. "And what does that have to do with anything?"

"Oh. I dunno." I admit, "I wasn't really paying attention. What's going on again?"

"He wanted to follow us to the orientation." Yang says, sounding amused, "And I was critiquing his flirting techniques." She suddenly frowns at me. "Wait, were you downloading his weapon?"

"Yes." I reply honestly, "But it's fine! Both of them went through Unlimited Blade Works, so the Archive wasn't strained at all! And besides, it's already pretty much recovered!"

"Ruby, you need to be more careful!" She protests, "I know you get better quickly, but you still shouldn't risk it!"

"Yang, I'm fine!" I protest again, "Besides, the Archive doesn't start straining until ten now, and it doesn't risk overloading until thirty! And beyond that, I already scanned his one back when we were on the airship, so I just updated!"

"And did you know that would happen before you scanned it?" She asks, sounding unimpressed.

"... No." I scuff the ground with a shoe, hanging my head.

"Uh... so I've got a question?" Jaune says, holding up a hand, "What's going on? Does this have to do with why her eyes were bleeding?"

"My sister's just being careless." Yang sighs, "You'd think she'd remember bleeding from the eyes five minutes ago because of it..."

"Yang!" I whine, "You don't get to say that! You blew up a club yesterday! And you still haven't told me why!"

"While I _was_ the bomb at that nightclub, technically it's still standing!" Yang protests while I wince at the pun, "And I told you, it was for my initiation test!"

"They have an initiation test?" Jaune asks blankly.

"It's an alternate method." Yang's reply is dismissive.

"I don't believe you." I say, "I just want you to know that. My lack of believe is so large, that you could power a black hole with it."

"I don't think you power black holes." She points out.

"So back to this whole Archive thing..." Jaune says, "Is this something I should already know? Because if my eyes are going to start bleeding as well, that sounds like something I want to know."

"Nah, it's just my semblance." I wave off his concerns with my right hand. "Oh, hey, we're here!"

The main hall is huge! Even bigger than Signal's, and I accidentally blew up a stack of dust crystals in there without scorching any of the walls. And it was a big stack, too!

"So any idea what this speech is about?" I ask Yang.

"Eh, probably stuff about how nice it is to have us here or something." She shrugs, "You know, usual speech stuff."

Headmaster Ozpin gets up on the massive stage near the wall, and looks over the crowd. A moment later, he begins speaking. "I'll...keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge-to hone your craft and acquire new skills-and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose-direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

"If that's usual speech stuff, I need to start paying more attention to speeches." I mutter to Yang. She gives me a look.

"Okay, so it's a bit unusual for a speech." She admits. Before I can reply, Professor Goodwitch starts talking.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready." She orders us. "You are dismissed."

"To the ballroom!" I declare.

Yang grabs my arm. "Nope!" Yang declares back, "You're heading to the nurse."

"But I'm fine!" I protest, trying to tug my arm out of her hand.

"We'll ask the nurse about that." Yang says, dragging me along. Finally, we arrive at the nurse's office. After an hour's worth of poking, questions, I'm given a couple pills to help with the blood loss or something. I don't know, I was mostly focused on trying to escape the room.

"Now can we go the ballroom?" I sulk.

"Sure!" Yang agrees.

* * *

The night passes uneventfully, and the next morning soon arrives.

"So, you sure you're over the overload?" Yang says as we ready our stuff for the initiation. I give her a _look_ from my locker.

"Yes, Yang, I'm sure." I sigh, "It's not really that bad, I keep telling you guys!"

"Well your eyes are usually bleeding when it happens, so it's a bit hard to believe you." Yang points out. "I mean, it tends to look like a bloody mess, so it's hard to believe it doesn't feel like one too."

I pause, then give her another look. "Did you try to make that into a pun?"

"I don't see it." She lies blatantly. "Really! Don't give me that look! It's like you're giving me the evil eye!"

I snort. I can't pull off the evil eye anywhere near as well as half the people _he_ knew. Which is sad, because I'm pretty sure most of them are girls, and I'm a girl too, so I should be able to pull it off by trying to copy them, but it doesn't work. Nyeh. Whatever. I pull Crescent Rose out of the locker and hug him, letting a gleeful smile find it's way onto my face.

"You look excited." Yang says, sounding amused herself.

"Well of course I am!" I reply, "We're going to go fight stuff now! No more of that awkward talking or getting to know you stuff! We're just letting our weapons do the talking!"

"Ruby, remember, you're not the only one going through initiation." She lectures, "If you want to grow up, you'll need to start getting to know people who aren't me or Uncle Qrow."

I groan. "Ugh, you sound like dad, with his, 'no Ruby, not all problems can be shot' and 'you need to make friends.'"

"And what about when we form teams?" Yang points out.

"Uh..." Wait. Darn it, she's right! This is a problem that _can't_ be shot! "I'll... just be on your- yeah, okay, fine, I'll try to befriend someone." I grumble.

Yang snickers, patting me on the back. Suddenly, we hear a conversation off to the side. "This is Pyrrha." A slightly snobbish sounding voice announces. I freeze.

"Hello again!" A rather famous voice says cheerfully.

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum!" The snobbish voice continues.

"Never heard of it." An oddly familiar voice says.

"Huh, is Jaune hitting on Pyrrha Nikos?" Yang asks, cocking her head at the conversation occurring behind us. I squee and spin around, then rush over to there in a burst of rose petals. "Ruby!" Yang shouts from behind me.

"Wha-?" A white haired girl looks surprised as I appear in front of the red-headed Nikos.

"You're Pyrrha Nikos, right? The Invincible Girl?" I ask. She looks somewhat surprised, but nods.

"Oh, yes. I am." She says after a moment.

"Can I see your weapons?" My eyes are shining with excitement.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I don't give aut- wait, what?" Her voice is honestly apologetic at first, and then she seems to realize what I'm asking.

"Milo and Akouo, right?" I wave my hands excitedly, "Can I see them?"

"Oh. Of course." She smiles, pulling them out. Unlimited Blade Works drinks them both in immediately, while my Archive only downloads her spear-rifle-shortsword, Milo. Immediately, I feel a slight sense of disappointment at having gotten my hopes up. Apparently, she spots it. "What is it?" She asks, sounding concerned.

"Oh, it's nothing." I say sheepishly, "It's just... okay, do you know what a Noble Phantasm is?" I ask. She shakes her head, and I explain. "Well, long story short, they're the crystallized mysteries and legends of legendary figures. The legend around them gives them powers that they might not have had back when those legendary figures were still human. I was kinda hoping that since you're, you know, the invincible girl, your weapons would have started to take on the legend and become the prototypes of a Noble Phantasm, but apparently not." I chuckle awkwardly. "It was kinda silly."

"I've never heard of these... Noble Phantasms." The white haired girl says sceptically. "And how could a legend give an item special powers?" I glance at her, then down at her _MyrtenasterMultiactionDustRapierMeleeRangeAmplifierMysticCodeWieldedbyWeissSchnee_ , then back up at her.

"It's a bit of a weird term." I admit sheepishly, "I only know about them because of my specialization, and there's not a lot of information about them. I'm actually not sure if they show up nowadays, and I really shouldn't have expected those two to become them, but I just got really excited. And I don't know, I'm not a researcher."

"Then what makes you think they're even real?" She asks.

I blink, shrug, and twist my Aura into circuits. "Download. Compile." The circuits hum with prana as I look into Unlimited Blade Works for an appropriate blade. Finally, I come across Clarent, the Radiant and Brilliant Royal Sword. It's a pretty simple weapon, with a red hilt, and a white and red double-sided blade. "Trace On." I use _his_ Aria, appropriate since I'm reaching into _his_ soul. Of course, since his concept isn't the same as mine, Clarent's barely stronger than a nameless blade, despite costing enough prana to mess with my circuits pretty badly. Two of them burn out, and my aura goes down a bit as I untwist it.

"So!" I announce cheerfully, "This is Clarent. It's a Noble Phantasm. It's usually a lot stronger, but I had to pull it from Unlimited Blade Works instead of my Archive."

"What's Unlimited Blade Works?" Jaune asks, looking completely lost as Clarent breaks back into Prana and rose petals.

"Weapon forge in my soul." I say dismissively.

Any more conversation is interrupted by Professor Goodwitch's voice. "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately." She announces. I yelp, rushing back to my locker to get the rest of my stuff before we head off.

We meet up again at the side of a large cliff, overlooking the nearby forest. Each of us are immediately ordered to stand on a launch pad.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Headmaster Ozpin tells us over a cup of tea.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today." Professor Goodwitch continues.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Professor Ozpin announces. ...Okay, picking Yang then. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Aaaand I'm in trouble. "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die. You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will be graded on how well you can guard the item, and how long it takes for you to return. Are there any questions?" He ends his speech, obviously not expecting any questions. Jaune raises his hand anyway.

"Yeah, um, sir?" He asks cautiously.

"Good! Now, take your positions." Ozpin ignores him.

I pull myself back into a springing position, readying myself for the fall to come. Beside me, Jaune is still raising his hand.

"Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question. So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?" As he talks, the white haired girl from earlier, Weiss, is launched.

"No. You will be falling." Ozpin says calmly. I give Jaune a curious look. Did they call it something different in his old school or something?

"Oh, uh, I see... So, did you, like, hand out parachutes for us?" Jaune continues asking odd questions.

"No. You will be using your own "landing strategy."" Ozpin explains. That should be straightforward enough. As he finishes, Yang winks at me, puts on a pair of awesome sunglasses then flies off with a shout of joy. I grin in anticipation, then follow as I'm launched as well.

As I go flying, I hear, "So, what exactly is a landing strategYYY!..."

Eh. He'll be fine. Worst comes to worst, he can just tank it with his Aura.

I flip Crescent Rose around as I fall through the brilliant blue sky, then fire a few shots to create enough recoil to slow me down. Once I've been slowed enough, I quickly switch my baby to his Scythe mode, then use him as a hook to grab a tree and start spinning, bleeding off the rest of my speed.

Once I've landed, I forge a set of circuits, lift my nose to the air, and start smelling. My ability to detect prana is nowhere near as good as _his_ was, and I can't tell one apart from another, but it's still enough to get a vague idea of if there's anything nearby. Since Grimm are made from the same curses and hatred as the corrupted mud of the grail, they're actually pretty easy to detect.

Nothing in the immediate area, so I should be safe for long enough to figure out which direction I need to go. I quickly make my way up the nearest tree, then start looking around with reinforced eyesight. After a moment, I see a flash of white. Well that's not Yang. I keep looking. Hm... Black? Probably a grimm. Red? Pyrrha, I think. Oh, is that Jaune stuck up in that tree? Why's Milo pinning him there? Oh, Pyrrha stuck him there with it. Because of her crush. Or something. I dunno, I'm not good at pulling emotions and reasons out of weapons, just actions.

Suddenly I get the feeling of being watched, and look down, only to see the white haired girl from earlier looking up at me.

"Are you stuck?" She asks me. I shake my head in return.

"Nah, I was trying to find my sister so I could partner with her and oh wait." I trail off as I realize I've already locked eyes with her. "Darn it!"

She looks kinda annoyed at that, but apparently accepts that I'm not sad about being partners with her, but about not being partners with Yang.

"While you're up there, did you find the temple?" She asks. I roll my eyes and quickly glance over the forest again. Another quick look around reveals the large stone structure built into the wall of the far cliff.

"Pretty sure." I call down to her, pointing with Crescent Rose in the direction it's in. "Some sort of large stone building anyway! It looks really fancy!"

"That's probably it." She decides. "Let's go."

"Download. Compile." My aura twists into a set of circuits as I quickly project a nameless spiked chain. I wrap it around a branch and then use it to climb down from the tree. When I get to the bottom, I let it fade back into rose petals and prana before turning toward the girl.

"Hi!" I say cheerfully, "I'm Ruby! Ruby Rose! Nice to meet you!"

"Weiss Schnee." She replies politely, "The same to you."

* * *

"I TAKE BACK WHEN I SAID IT WAS NICE TO MEET YOU!" Weiss yells at me over the rushing of the wind. "I TAKE IT ALL BACK! WHY DID I AGREE TO THIS? THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" I shout back over the back of the Nevermore, "THIS WAS A GREAT IDEA!"

"HOW WAS THIS A GREAT IDEA!" She screams. I'm about to answer when my reinforced eyes catch a glimpse of Yang down below us, in front of a bunch of chess pieces on pedestals.

"NEVERMIND! I'LL EXPLAIN LATER! IN THE MEANTIME, JUMP!" I let go as I finish shouting.

"YOU LITTLE RED-" She shouts after me. I can't hear the rest over the rushing wind as I cannon downward toward my sister and whomever it is that she partnered with. I use the same landing strategy as earlier, using Crescent Rose to fire precise shots to bleed off my speed slow me enough to land without trouble.

"Ruby!" Yang exclaims excitedly. I grin at her.

"Hey Yang!" I say excitedly. "How are-" I'm interrupted by a high pitched scream of fear.

"Oh no, some girl's in trouble!" Yang shouts, spinning around.

"We have to go save her!" I declare. "Oh, by the way, I'm Ruby! What's your name?" I turn to greet the girl dressed in black that partnered with Yang. She's a couple inches shorter than Yang, with black hair, and these awesome goldish eyes, kinda like _his_ used to be before he started using projection magic, but more on the gold side.

"Blake." She answers my question before being interrupted herself by a shout of annoyance from above. I turn to look, and see Weiss leaping from giant white snowflake rune to giant white snowflake rune.

"I can't believe you left me on the back of a Nevermore!" Weiss growls angrily as she steps off the last one.

"I told you to jump." I point out. "You have a really cool landing strategy, by the way!"

"Thank you." She harumphs, then narrows her eyes at Blake. "You. You're the one who insulted me yesterday."

"I don't see how pointing out your family company's' somewhat questionable business practices and labor forces is insulting you." She replies calmly. Another scream breaks through the air, and we're interrupted for a third and then a fourth time. The third time is when a girl with an awesome _sledgehammergrenadelauncherofNoraValkerie_ rides in on an Ursa. See, someone else had the riding a Grimm idea! It's not insane! And her friend with the _dualpistolknivesofLieRen_ followed her!

The second interruption is when a giant doom scorpion of doom chases Pyrrha out of the far side of the forest toward us. Hanging onto it's tail, still screaming, is that one blonde kid who never used his ancestral weapon. Vomit boy or whatever. Juane? Jane? Jaune? No wait, Joan! Wait, no, that's not right. Joan's a Servant. Joan of Arc or something. And this guy has Crocea Mors, which is Ceaser's sword, and wow, that's actually kinda weird. Whatever. I quickly scan its data file for his name. Huh, so it is Jaune after all. I listen in, hoping he might be screaming something useful, and nope. He's just talking about how it's not the relic. I'd think that was obvious, but apparently some people have to say obvious things.

I lift Crescent Rose, grin, and prepare for a fight.

* * *

 _In a dimension a hop, a skip, two magical girl universes, the Harry Potter universe, a reality populated by penguins, and a jump over_...

I frown at Rin. "Why is it so odd that you found a trace of my prana there?" I ask her, "It's a parallel universe, right? Wouldn't it just be the Emiya Shirou of that world?"

"Look Shirou," She explains, "It's okay that there's another copy of you. It's also okay that he knows the same magecraft you do. That's because it's just you, right? So of course his magecraft would follow the same lines. The problem is that you're a third rate magus. You're a faker, so you can't create your own mysteries. That's not a problem here, since you have a teacher and already know the basics, but in that world, there isn't anything else using magecraft. So this you is using magecraft even though he can't have learned it from anyone, or even opened his magic circuits."

"So that me is using magecraft even though he shouldn't be able?" I confirm.

She nods. "Yes. It's good that you understand." Well, if there's a me using magecraft without having learned it, then of course that isn't normal. I'm not a genius like Tohsaka is, after all.

"I see." I nod as I reply. "So why are we going to try and find him?"

"Because I want to know how he learned magecraft!" She exclaims, "If he's one of the first mages, then his world might be entering the Age of the Gods. If we time this right, we can take advantage of it!" She gives an evil laugh. I worry a bit about the other me from that world, but I push that feeling aside for now. After all, I have to make lunch first, and I'm sure that Tohsaka wouldn't do anything bad to Shirou Emiya. She's a good person, after all.

* * *

AN: So. Another chapter done. I... don't really feel happy about this, since some things are sticking a bit closer to canon than I like, but this is one of those absolute events, so nyeh.

And explanations for this chapter begin!

Not really too much to say. Jaune is incompetent, as per canon, and has no idea what's going on, as per canon. Since Ruby knocked herself out, Yang sticks with her, preventing her from meeting and annoying Weiss, and thus meeting Blake. Which means the whole night scene didn't happen. Ruby manages to annoy Weiss a little bit later anyway, but it doesn't have the same "I have no idea what I'm doing" feel to it this time. This also means the whole forest goes differently for a little bit, but due to Stations of Canon, they quickly meet back up. (Mainly because otherwise everyone would probably get killed by those giant Grimm.)

Anyway, on other notes: Anyone have any idea how the others will react once they find out what, exactly, Unlimited Blade Works and the nameless Archive do? I'm talking about it's whole "Copy" function. it seems like it'd be particularly insulting in the RWBY-verse.

Also: Should Ruby have access to the stupidly long katana of False Assassin? It's actually not even a noble phantasm, so I'm tempted to give it to her, and it'd give her at least one item from the nasuverse to call upon. It's also not that OP.

Finally: Really hated the scene with Rin and Shirou, since they felt out of character. Suggestions to help with them would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: Reviews have encouraged me to clarify that the group from Fate/Stay Night will not be encountering team RWBY until post-canon. They will, however, hang around in Remnant and try to figure out what the heck's going on with these people powering low level mysteries with their souls, no magic circuits, and no prana. And also try to figure out how to blend in. And what dust does. Point is, they've got a lot of stuff to do while the RWBY team go through the canon plot.

Edit 2: Okay, serious. A beta is needed here. XD I completely screwed up and had to edit this after posting 3 times. At least. XD


	4. Chapter 3: Return to Beacon

Chapter 3

My first action on seeing the doomy doom scorpion is to ready my circuits and start reinforcing myself. My second action is to look around and see how everyone's positioned and stuff. Yang, Blake, and Weiss are here with me. That means we have a tank, a speed based striker, according to _GambolShroudVariantBallisticChainScytheofBlakeBelladonna_ , a support mage, and another striker. So not bad.

On the other hand, Nora seems to be a heavy type striker as well, primarily melee. Lie Ren is also a close range fighter, and a dodge type martial artist. Something between striker and tank. Pyrrha, on the other hand, seems to be another tank, though I don't think she's quite as good at it against Grimm. No clue about Jaune, his weapon isn't really reading any of his skills. Maybe he has some sort of... presence concealment ability? Or something? I mean, unless he just hasn't used his weapon, it should have some hints as to what he can do! It's got like, fifteen ancestors in it, so it's not like the sword itself is hiding anything.

I shake my head, tossing the thought aside as I scan the field. The scorpion's closer to the other two than us. "Nora, Ren, you two help Jaune and Pyrrha!" I yell at them, "Yang, Blake, you guys help us with the Nevermore. Get up there, and harass it, keep it on the defensive, and keep it close. Weiss, cover me would you? And help them get up there."

Weiss frowns at me as she creates runic platforms for the other pair to climb. "What are you planning on doing?"

"I've got something that should work." I explain, "But it'll take a ten count aria to actualize the mystery."

"... What?" She gives me a confused look.

"... I need to chant for a minute to cast the spell." I answer.

"You couldn't have just started with that?" She mutters.

I ignore her and start up my circuits. "Download. Compile."

I reach into the Archive and download a nameless blade wielded by a nameless man, wearing the form of a man who did not exist. Assassin's "washing pole blade." A sword he mastered to such an extent that he managed to break the logic of the world through sheer skill alone. But the Nevermore flying above us is too far away. This sword is not enough, not in it's current form.

So I redesign it. The very essence of its being is laid bare before me. I change it from a sword to a bullet, to be fired by Crescent Rose. Even if I lose some of the skill, what remains is enough. After all, it was a skill originally made to strike down a bird in flight. But it's damage is not enough. Not for a Grimm as large as this one. But I'm not _him._ I have other things I can take advantage of.

I go ahead and begin to compile it. The eight steps of tracing are slow and laborious, and burn at my circuits. This is something new, something I've never done before, so it'll take me a ten count aria. I take a breath, and begin to chant. I'm not sure where the words come from, but they feel right.

"Reading file.

Extracting initial data.

Designing algorithms.

Examining data structures.

Reformatting to new form.

Recalculating variables.

Adjusting parameters.

Compiling code.

Printing bullet.."

Prana burns through my circuits and thickens in the barrel of Crescent Rose. The bullet forms in a storm of rose petals. It's a bullet like any other, but not. Although it holds their shape, it retains the knowledge of being a sword. It's degraded now, some of the skill is lost. It's form is too different. But it's close enough, especially when attacking a bird, and even more so when I spent a ten count Aria on it.

I take a breath and reinforce the shot until it's on the edge of breaking. Then I let my Aura flow into it, reinforcing it further. Auric reinforcement is a simple technique, taught to all huntsmen and huntresses, and capable of strengthening even a leek to the point where you can stab it into the floor. It also stacks with the magecraft based version.

"Three Strikes that Form a Cage." My voice rises from a whisper to roar as I finish my aria, "Launch Program, Swallow Reversal!" Crescent Rose rings out with a shot, and at the same time, the Nevermore is hit thrice. Every hit is simultaneous, forming a cage of steel. The Nevermore screeches in agony as it falls from the sky, the trio of wounds enough to finish it off. Yang and Blake fall with it, quickly leaping off and each employing their own landing strategies to land without issues.

"Good shot, sis!" Yang says cheerfully as she lands beside me, cratering the ground and absorbing the shock with her Aura. "How often can you do that?"

"Twice?" I guess, letting my circuits unfold as I check the sensor on my wrist. My aura's at about 60%, the immense heat having damaged it even beyond the twisted bits that formed my false circuits. "Yeah, twice."

"It does seem to be an efficient trump card against single targets." Blake says calmly, "Do you think we'll need it for the Death Stalker?"

"I hope not." I grumble as we take a look, "It only works on birds." Well, technically I could probably add more lines to the Aria to make it straight up formalcraft and have it work on things other than birds, but that's just a waste of prana for single shot bullets.

Luckily, the other team's currently finishing off the scorpion by having Nora smash its stinger through its head. "Apparently not, they're doing just smashing!" Yang puns badly, "So you guys just need to grab your relics, and then we can head back. Whoo. That was a lot more fun than I'd expected when we got dumped here! Didn't think there'd be anything this big so close to the school."

I look over the various choices, then hesitate. It's a group of chess pieces. And even though I never had any interest in chess, nor did any of the earlier versions of, me, the symbolism in it's almost painful. The White King which was, and always had been, Arturia. Saber, when _he_ fought in the holy grail war. On the other hand, there was the White Knight. What I'd always wanted to become, the hero who saved everyone. And on the other side, the Black Knight. The nameless hero who left nothing but corpses. I suddenly scoff, then just grab the white knight, throwing aside all those thoughts and just going for the horsy. It doesn't matter who _he_ was, who he'd become, whom he'd loved. He wasn't me. And besides, symbolism doesn't belong on the battlefield, not unless you're trying to manipulate an army or something.

"So! What piece did you guys pick?" I ask.

"White knight." Yang pulls it out and waves it at me.

"White Castle." Jaune says, grabbing it off it's pedestal.

Nora grabs the other one, puts it on her head, and begins singing. "I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle~"

I shrug. "So how are we getting back?" I ask cheerfully, "Because we kinda fell down a cliff to get here."

"I'll use my runes." Weiss sounds a bit grumpy as she sheaths her rapier. "In the meantime, how did you do that?"

"Do what?" I cock my head at her curiously.

"That trick with firing three bullets at once! And then they turned into a cage of swords or something! I know it's not your semblance, because your semblance is the creation of weapons thing."

"Oh, it's because I created a sword." I say dismissively.

"... So... your semblance allows you to replicate Dust weapons?" She finally asks.

I flit over to her and put my left arm around her shoulders, using my other arm to gesture dramatically.

"A long long time ago, in a world, far far away, in the infinite possibilities of the kaleidoscope, there lived a man. He wasn't a very special person, he was just a guy who didn't have a name. And then he ran into a Samurai, who's like a Huntsman. And he asked the Samurai, 'please, teach me how to use the sword.' So the Samurai was like, no, for you must master the state of having no mind.' So he tried for a month, and then the Samurai died. But rather than giving up, because giving up's for shmucks, he was like, 'I'm going to become so awesome with the sword, I'll be able to cut a bird out of midair."

"Why's he trying to-" She began. I put a finger over her mouth.

"Don't interrupt!" I pout. She sighs and waves, so I gleefully continue. "Now, as I was saying, he decided to learn how to cut a bird out of the air. So he grabbed a sword so long that it was like a washing pole, and began practicing. But then he noticed that the birdies could feel the wind when he swung his sword, so he started swinging faster and faster. And then he realized they could feel the wind as the sword approached and had to make smaller adjustments than he did, and could move in any direction so he realized his sword had to make a cage around them. So every day, he practiced swinging the sword, and every day he grew closer to perfection, until one day, he grew so skilled that his blade broke through the very illusion of time and cut the bird from three directions at once!"

"... Was there a point to this story?" Weiss asks, sounding unimpressed.

"Yes." I nod. "So later, like, way later, someone makes this amazing ritual called the Holy Grail War, where seven wizards summon ghosts to fight for a wish. He's one of them. And one of the wizards is a kid named Shirou Emiya, who's a complete idiot, but he has the power to look at a sword and know it instantly."

"Did you just put yourself into your own story?" Blake interrupts, sounding disapproving.

"... Anyway, he saw the sword, learned it, copied it's skills, and then later made a pact with the world in order to save people, then he died and found out that the pact involved killing people. So then he went back in time to try and kill himself, then got killed by his former self, and then reincarnated as me."

"... What?" Weiss gives me a completely confused look. Blake just raises an eyebrow.

"It's actually a pretty good story." Yang explains after snickering at them for a bit. "Well, it is when she tells it right. Seriously, get her to tell you about it. Just ignore the fact that she talks as if she was the protagonist when it happened. And keep in mind that the protagonist is a guy."

"Yang!" I whine, "Why don't you believe me?"

"Because you're claiming to be the reincarnation of a legendary hero from another dimension." Yang replies immediately. I just pout at her. I've gotten used to people not believing me about it a long time ago, but it's still kinda annoying.

"Well, it's still a bit of a walk back." Blake says after a few moments, "Why don't you start telling us the story? It'll be a nice diversion."

"It's not a story." I grumble under my breath, but get louder as I begin to speak. "When I came to, I was in a burning field..."

* * *

"Look, all I'm saying is that it'd be easier to take seriously if it was either in third person, or written down." Jaune grumbles, as we look over the massive crowds, "It's hard mixing the idea of you and a guy with red hair."

"But then I'd have to _write_ it!" I whine, "Do you know how long it is? It's REALLY long! And then Archer gets summoned to like, every single variation and gets a memory copy from the local Shirou Emiya each time because of the correspondence of souls thing."

"Why not just use those two main routes?" Yang suggests, "You know, the one that Archer went through himself, and then the one where he got killed?"

"Ugh, I guess." I grumble.

"Would you four be quiet?" Weiss hisses, "We _are_ getting assigned our teams, you know."

"But everyone else got assigned teams based on their chess pieces." I point out reasonably, "There's not exactly any tension left, we know exactly who's on what team."

"Wait." Blake suddenly speaks up. I give her a curious look. "You mentioned that Shirou and Archer can copy the skills of the wielder for any weapon he sees."

I nod. "Yeah, it's why Shirou manages to beat Archer even though he's got a lot less experience. Plus that whole conviction and ideals thing."

"And you're claiming to be his reincarnation?" She continues, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"I _am_ his reincarnation!" I protest, "Why do you think I can do the same stuff he can?"

"Because you made up the story and used yourself as the protagonist?" Weiss mutters under her breath.

Blake ignores her. "So... can you do that as well? Just look at a weapon and copy the skills of the person using it? No matter how much they worked on it?"

"Well, yeah." I reply, blinking. "When I project it, I copy everything about the weapon, including its experiences. If I let those experiences guide me, I copy the user's skill as well, though the rank's usually reduced a little bit unless I'm used to the weapon. It's just most of the time I prefer sticking to my baby." I pet Crescent Rose fondly.

Yang grins. "It makes sparring with her a challenge. She takes a look at your weapon, and then immediately knows all your tricks, so you have to literally come up with new tricks on the fly. It's like playing a game on Nightmare mode."

Everyone else frowns though. "That's extremely disrespectful." Weiss scowls, "They spent nearly a lifetime working on those skills, and you just copy them? Not even by fighting them or seeing them used, but just by taking a look at their weapon? It's like stealing."

"It is?" I ask sheepishly, "I never really considered it like that. I mean, weapons get copied just by looking at them."

"Wait, is this why you wanted to see Milo?" Pyrrha suddenly asks.

"What? No, I was honestly curious if they were proto-Noble Phantasms or not." I say, feeling a bit lost. "I mean, the copying happens as a side effect, but I wouldn't be able to use them to the same level you do because I don't have the magnetism semblance."

"You can't just copy it?" Pyrrha sounds a bit relieved, but also kinda curious, and a bit embarrassed as well. I shake my head.

"Nah. Shirou's element and origin were Sword, so he could copy things related to the concept of swords, like shields and sheaths. Mine is weapon, so I can only copy things related to the concept of 'weapon', and Semblances aren't. I mean, I might be able to, but I'd have to somehow structurally grasp it, and then I'd still suffer a rank reduction." I explain.

Weiss seems to relax at that. "So you can't copy my combat style." She confirms.

I nod in agreement. "Nope! You use too many utility abilities."

A few moments later, our group is called up front.

"Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long." Ozpin announces gravely, "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose!"

I stare at him in shock as Yang leans over to hug me. "I'm so proud of you!" She says cheerfully.

"Well, it looks like it'll be an interesting year." Ozpin muses before continuing. "Now, your assigned dorm rooms are on the screens. Please make your way there immediately. Classes will begin tomorrow. Team leaders, please say behind. I'll be handing you the schedules."

As I receive mine, I cough awkwardly. "Um, Headmaster Ozpin?"

"Yes?" He asks politely.

"Is there... okay, so my Semblance is a bit weird, and basically, would there be a location where I can set up a workshop? Some of the stuff I need to do with it is... delicate, and having others intrude upon it could be bad. I don't need a large room or anything fancy, just somewhere private and out of the way."

"Your father already informed us of your circumstances." He says, sounding amused, "I'll arrange one by the end of the day."

"Thanks." I say gratefully.

* * *

"So... should we wake her up?" I poke at a sleeping Weiss with a projected Torashina.

"Class doesn't start for another three hours." Blake points out.

"Yeah, but we need to get the room set up." Yang argues, "And she'll probably throw a fit if we do it without warning her."

"Right." I decide, "Screw it." I pull out my track whistle and blow it in her ear.

"GAH!" She wakes up with a shout, and I grin at her.

"Nice to see you're awake! Our first mission is to get our room set up and decorated before class at 10!" I announce.

"... What?" She blinks at me.

"We need to unpack." Blake says, holding up a briefcase. "And cleanup." She adds when it falls open, spilling out her stuff.

We start setting up the room immediately. It only takes a couple hours to get everything arranged, but then we're left with the four beds in a pile at the center of the room.

"This isn't going to work." Weiss decides.

"Bunk beds?" I finally suggest. "I bet I could make them without too much trouble."

"Huh?" Weiss frowns at me.

"Your Alteration thing?" Yang asks. I nod.

It takes another few minutes, but we quickly manage to get the bunkbeds made, and collapse onto the beds, Yang and I collapsing onto one, and Blake and Weiss on the other.

"I thought your semblance was copying weapons?" Weiss suddenly asks. I notice Blake tense a bit, apparently still not over the fact that I can copy skills as well.

"Well, technically, my semblance is speed." I admit, "The rest of that falls under magecraft, which I learned from being Archer's reincarnation." I say the last bit a bit louder, turning to my left to give Yang a look. She just smirks at me.

"Wait, so it's something anyone could learn?" Blake asks after a moment of thought.

I nod, then shake my head. "Kind of? It's... okay, remember how I mentioned magic circuits in my story?" At her nod I continue explaining. "Well, a magic circuit is like a nerve in the soul. _He_ used to create fake ones by using his actual nerves, but since our auras are extensions of our souls, and we can manipulate our Auras, we can learn how to make fake circuits from them. After that, we can just learn magecraft the normal way. It's still dangerous and painful and stuff, but it'd let you make the circuits. The only thing is, there's no real point for anyone else."

"Why not?" Weiss asks, "Even if I dislike the idea, that copying ability you use isn't exactly a bad thing."

"Because magecraft has it's own semblance in the form of an Element. Shirou's element was Sword, which is why he could copy swords so easily. Mine is Weapon, so I can copy weapons. Beyond that, we've got nearly manifested Reality Marbles, which store the information for us. Your own element is more likely to be something like fire, water, air, earth, aether, or, if you're lucky, some combination of those five. So anything I know wouldn't really be helpful for you, and you probably wouldn't be able to use my Replication ability. And when I say probably, I mean you almost definitely wouldn't, because non-standard elements are already really really rare, and then the nonstandards can be _anything_. There's stuff like imaginary numbers!"

"What does imaginary numbers do?" Blake raises an eyebrow at me.

"Spirits and stuff." I reply dismissively. "That's not the point. My point is that if you have a non-standard, it could be anything, and I'd only be able to teach you if you had something related to swords or weapons. Well, no, I can still teach you the basic three, but you won't be able to do stuff on the level I do, because it's what my magecraft specializes in."

Weiss makes a harumphing noise, but doesn't comment.

"Well!" Yang says after a moment, "We'd better get to class!"

"It's only- oh, we do need to get to class." Weiss blinks at her scroll. "You said ten, right?"

I nod at her as I grab my backpack. "Yup. Let's go."

The class is... well, it's boring. While professor Port's lecture is technically useful in that his tactics are a valid, he's so over the top and boring about it, that it's actually kinda painful. I groan, but keep my attention focused anyway. I learned my lesson about letting myself get distracted when _he_ missed Kiritsugu's lecture on magic circuits and started using his nerves. While that whole thing's actually pretty useful for me, it definitely was a worse idea than actually his circuits.

Finally, Professor Port calls up someone to volunteer if they think they're a Huntsman/ Huntress. Weiss immediately does. She manages to beat it without any real trouble, though there's a bit of trouble when she's disarmed. Pretty soon, class comes to an end, and we're sent on to our next class. Which is also boring. In fact, so are the rest of the day's classes. Even combat class doesn't actually have us practicing, just a lecture, though luckily, that doesn't seem to be a regular thing, just an introduction day thing.

After class, on our way back to our room, I'm interrupted by Professor Goodwitch. "Miss Rose, the room you required is room 214, a small lab room close to your dorm. Do try not to destroy it."

"Oh, can I see it now?" I ask excitedly, "Or do I need to wait?"

"Your equipment from home will be arriving around midday tomorrow. If you're willing to begin work before it arrives..." She trails off as I nod.

"Thanks! I'll head there now!" I quickly disappear in a flash of rose petals.

The room's mostly empty and covered in shelves, though there's also one of those emergency showers you find in weapons labs and a nice, solid looking desk. In other words, it's perfect. Well, no, that's a lie. There's no Ley Lines here, but other than that, it's perfect! I quickly glance around, mentally figuring out where I'll put the supplies as they arrive. Ritual Circle needs to be near the emergency shower, because blood from sacrifices is a pain to clean up. Raw materials have to be easily accessible, but notebooks take priority, so the first couple shelves will hold those. Now I just need my supplies to get here, and I can get back to work on my project. Trying to turn Crescent Rose into a Noble Phantasm.

It's probably not possible, of course. _He_ never could have. He forged a copy of every weapon in his soul, never creating anything by hand. He was simply a fake. But me? I'm a creator. A real one. Crescent Rose was a weapon that I made with my own hands. And when I become a hero and ascend to the throne, everyone will know that name. But it'll be easier if Crescent Rose becomes a phantasm _before_ I no longer need it as one, so I'm going to do my best to accelerate the process.

In this case, it's by projecting every single Phantasm I can, analyzing each one in every way I can, writing down my notes, and then trying to graft the properties onto Crescent Rose. While I can kinda do it temporarily through Alteration, and have actually half developed a Mystery to do so with a shorter-than-ten-line-aria that won't blow out my circuits, the ridiculous amount of variation among Noble Phantasms means that right now, the mystery just makes Crescent Rose count as something similar to a stick being wielded by a Heroic Spirit.

Basically, it's not what I'm going for. Not yet. But I'll get there! I swear it!

* * *

 _Elsewhere..._

"GAH!" Rin snarls angrily as her foot smashes into another one of the manifested spirits. "How many of these things _are_ there?"

"Quite a few more." Saber murmurs. "Rin, do you have enough prana to let me use Excalibur?"

"Yes, go ahead. Gaia's not interfering with our Magecraft, so I've got a lot more prana to spare." Rin waves the Jeweled Sword and sends forth a blast of prismatic light as she speaks. "Shirou, how much prana do you have left?"

"Enough for another 30 broken arrows?" I guess, "Not enough."

"EXCALIBUR!" Saber roars. A brilliant golden beam tears through the crowds of shadow-beasts, clearing a path.

"Let's go." Rin decides. We start running.

* * *

So, Authors Notes. Short chapter, unfortunately. Not much happened. They finished off the Nevermore in a very anticlimactic fashion, and Ruby revealed that her copying abilities extend to the skills of the weapons used. People are now uncomfortable around her, and this is going to spread. She also showed us that she has a workshop and is trying to create her own Noble Phantasm. That's obviously not going to work, but it seems like the kind of thing she'd want to do.

So, actal notes:

First off, using the Washing Pole Sword as a bullet. This is a highly unique circumstance that she's probably never going to get the chance to replicate. She had enough time to use a 10 count Aria, was aiming at a bird (keep in mind that the technique's originally anti-bird. I just hold that Nasu didn't record that because, seriously, in what circumstances is it's _anti-bird_ nature going to come up?) and burned out a good amount of her Aura.

Second, she's unusually liberal with her knowledge. This is because, well, there's no magus association, and Gaia's pretty nice on Remnant. Shirou and Archer weren't particularly concerned with secrecy (beyond the whole "Hey, let's not get the magus association trying to kill us), and Ruby has even less of a reason to be concerned, since pretty much everyone pulls off low level mysteries without much trouble.

Finally, I still need a beta. XD MissGardenia has been kind enough to leave quite a few typo catches in her reviews, but I'd strongly prefer to avoid having them ever show up in the first place. Feels very unprofessional.


End file.
